Here’s the announcement just out this morning:

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) announced today that its Monongahela Power Company (Mon Power) subsidiary will be retiring three older coal-fired power plants located in West Virginia by September 1, 2012. The decision to close the plants is based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which were recently finalized, and other environmental regulations.

The following plants will be retired: Albright Power Station, Willow Island Power Station, and Rivesville Power Station. In total, 105 employees will be directly affected.

The total capacity of these regulated plants is 660 megawatts (MW), about 3 percent of FirstEnergy’s total regulated and competitive generation portfolio. Recently, these plants served mostly as peaking facilities, generating, on average, less than 1 percent of the electricity produced by FirstEnergy over the past three years.

Mon Power recently completed a yearlong study of its older, unscrubbed regulated coal-fired units to determine the potential impact of significant changes in environmental regulations. It was determined that additional investments to implement MATS and other environmental rules would make these plants even less likely to be dispatched. As a result, the decision was made to retire these West Virginia plants rather than continue operations.

This follows FirstEnergy’s announcement last month that its competitive generation subsidiaries would retire six older, coal-fired power plants located in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland by September 1, 2012.

“The high cost to implement MATS and other environmental rules is the reason these Mon Power plants are being retired,” said James R. Haney, regional president of Mon Power and president of West Virginia Operations for FirstEnergy.

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Following up on a tip from a Coal Tattoo reader, I passed a question on to state officials about the W.Va. Department of Environmental Protection’s study of the water in the Prenter area of Boone County … here’s a press release that resulted from that reader’s careful eye:

Triad Engineering has confirmed an error in a study it conducted for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection on water supplies in the Prenter area of Boone County.

The study, which included the sampling of 33 domestic wells, was released on Tuesday and did not reveal evidence of widespread mining-induced impacts to groundwater quality in the study area. However, Triad said one laboratory sample of a domestic well exceeded the primary drinking water standard for lead.

Although the agency and Triad Engineering staff carefully reviewed the data, this parameter was accidentally overlooked by both.

“While this does not change the overall scope of the study, exceeding the drinking water standard for lead is serious and we are glad this error was found,” said Randy C. Huffman, cabinet secretary for the DEP.

A citizen who read the study pointed out the error.

The owner of the well with the elevated lead value lives in an area served by public water. The DEP is trying to reach the owner to make him aware of the finding and will investigate the cause of the elevated lead levels.

None of the other 32 wells sampled in the study area exceeded the primary drinking water standards for metals.

“We have reviewed the domestic well data once again and confirmed that no other values exceeded the primary drinking water standards in the domestic wells.  The value was not highlighted on the spreadsheet and not called out in the report due to human error,” said John Meeks, lead geologist with Triad Engineering.”

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 321 citations and orders during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and three metal/nonmetal mines last month. The coal mines were issued 174 citations and 19 orders, while the metal/nonmetal operations were issued 112 citations and 16 orders.

These inspections, which began in force in April 2010 following the explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine, involve mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to their poor compliance history or particular compliance concerns, including high numbers of violations or closure orders; frequent hazard complaints or hotline calls; plan compliance issues; inadequate workplace examinations; a high number of accidents, injuries or illnesses; fatalities; and adverse conditions such as increased methane liberation, faulty roof conditions and inadequate ventilation.

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Here’s a speech my old buddy Rich Trumka, the former United Mine Workers president who now heads the national AFL-CIO, gave today about climate change (and he talks a fair amount about coal too):

Good afternoon. I am honored to be here with all of you. And thank you, Denise (Napier), for that kind introduction and all your work to protect the pensions of public employees of the state of Connecticut. I also want to express the thanks of the labor movement to Tim Wirth and the United Nations Foundation, and to Mindy Lubber and her team at CERES, not just for organizing this event, but for all you’ve done to focus investors on the opportunities for investment in addressing climate change as well as the risks of failing to address climate change.

Today, as we meet together, scientists tell us we are headed ever more swiftly toward irreversible climate change—with catastrophic consequences for human civilization. We must have a stable climate to feed the planet, to ensure there is drinking water for our cities but not floodwaters at our doors. A stable climate is the foundation of our global civilization, of our global economy—the prerequisite for a profitable investment environment.

And to those who say climate risk is a far off problem, I can tell you that I have hunted the same woods in Western Pennsylvania my entire life and climate change is happening now—I see it in the summer droughts that kill the trees, the warm winter nights when flowers bloom in January, the snows that fall less frequently and melt more quickly.

Even so, some will ask, why should investors or working people focus on climate risk when we have so many economic problems across the world? The labor movement has a clear answer: Addressing climate risk is not a distraction from solving our economic problems. My friends, addressing climate risk means retooling our world—it means that every factory and power plant, every home and office, every rail line and highway, every vehicle, locomotive and plane, every school and hospital, must be modernized, upgraded, renovated or replaced with something cleaner, more efficient, less wasteful.

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Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin speaks Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012 during his state of the state address at the Capitol in Charleston, W.Va. (AP Photo/Jeff Gentner)

Here is what Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said in his State of the State speech to summarize his promised mine safety reform legislation:

Just as we must continue to mine coal, we must make certain that our miners are safe. We have created a new rock dusting laboratory. We have increased the number and the salaries for our mine inspectors. We are re-checking our rescue chambers to make sure that they are safe. And, we have diligently worked to determine the causes of the Upper Big Branch disaster to make sure a disaster like that never happens again!

To build on this progress, I will submit legislation designed to improve mine safety. This legislation will enhance rock dusting standards, protect whistleblowers, mandate methane sensors at long walls, and increase pre-shift reviews. We will prohibit mines from announcing that an inspector is coming, and we will provide more training for self-rescuers. We will also begin a year-long study on the training of our inspectors, our foreman, and our miners. Coal mining is a dangerous profession, but we can make it safer. One death in our mines is one death too many.

Finally, now is the time to make sure that our mines are drug free. Much like Virginia and Kentucky, we will implement our own drug-testing program. No workplace can tolerate a person impaired by drugs, particularly in our mines.

Here’s what West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin had to say in tonight’s State of the State address about his efforts to help stop any tougher regulation of the coal industry:

Let me now speak very directly about one of my problems with Washington.

As long as I am Governor I will continue to fight this administrations war on coal! A few months ago, a federal court agreed with our lawsuit and ruled that the federal EPA had in fact overstepped its authority. I will keep fighting until Washington recognizes that one of the keys to America’s future is the use and promotion of our natural resources. It is a fight from which I will not shrink, and one that I fully expect to win!

We wrote last week about how West Virginia political leaders who don’t like EPA were misquoting agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson in their continuing efforts to discredit federal environmental regulators.

Well, EPA critics are at it again, according to this story from Politico:

Republicans are in an Internet uproar over an erroneous media report quoting EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson as calling them “jack-booted thugs” during a speech at the University of California at Berkeley.

Trouble is, Jackson didn’t level the term at Republicans. Instead, she used it to refer to her own employees, jokingly borrowing language that the EPA’s critics have used to describe the agency’s workers.

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This just in:

The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) will release its report on the Apr. 5, 2010 disaster at the Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine at a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 25, in Charleston, W. Va.

“Our charge is different from any other party to this investigation,” UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts said. “We don’t have operational policies from which to divert attention. We don’t have regulatory enforcement actions-or inactions-to explain away. We don’t have lawsuits to defend against.

“All we have are the surviving miners, their families and most of all, the families of the victims,” Roberts said. “More than anyone, they deserve to know the entire truth about what happened to their loved ones and their co-workers. That’s what we will report on Tuesday.”

The UBB mine was a nonunion mine, however shortly after the explosion miners working there designated the UMWA as their representative in this investigation.

Breaking news just in:

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ruled with the coal industry — and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection — in the first phase of a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration’s crackdown on mountaintop removal mining.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ruled that the federal Environmental Protection Agency has overstepped its authority when it began a much more intense review of individual Clean Water Act permits normally handled by the Army Corps of Engineers.

I’ve posted a copy of the judge’s ruling here, and we’ll have more on this online in a bit and in tomorrow’s Gazette. Still to be decided in the case is the challenge to EPA’s new water quality guidelines for coal mining operations in Appalachia. Arguments on that portion of the case are set for late October. have been delayed until next June.

UPDATED: Here’s a link to today’s Gazette print edition story.

Anyone who reads it  knows that Bray Cary’s newspaper is hardly a major voice for anti-coal environmental extremism … so you have to wonder what the coal association’s Chris Hamilton will say about today’s State Journal editorial.

Under the headline  W.Va. Citizens Need to Look Beyond Coal, the paper’s editors say:

Coal is a major part of who we are, but we must expand our economy.

According to a recent report, coal reserves in Central Appalachia are running out.

Some smaller mining operations have been forced to close, and even giant companies such as Arch Coal do not paint a rosy picture for the future.

That’s a scary thought for West Virginia. For generations, many people in this state have derived their livelihood from coal, but it runs far deeper than that. Our state is synonymous with coal — it’s at the very core, both literally and figuratively, of who are. We’ve built entire cities around mines, and the men and women who dig it out of the ground have not only fought wars to ensure their safety, but, sadly far too many who made the trip underground never came back out.

The editorial continues:

Looking beyond coal may not be popular, but honesty is an important part of this debate. While we must never marginalize what has been the cornerstone of our economy, we have to be realistic about what we’re facing. We need to do all we can to give the next generation of West Virginians the chance to make a life for themselves and their families in this wonderful state.

A union coal miner at work at Alpha Natural Resources’ Emerald Mine in Greene County, Pa. Photo by Phil Smith, UMWA Journal.

It’s a good day not only to spend time with family and friends, but to remember the workers who do so much for all of us … Here’s hoping everyone has a safe and enjoyable day.

Read about the history of the holiday from the U.S. Department of Labor, Wikipedia,  or the AFL-CIO.

Well, according to the Daily Mail, Rep. David McKinley took in $20,000 at a fundraiser over at The Greenbrier, where West Virginia’s leaders of business and industry are holding their annual summit.

But so far, his office has declined to say whether he’s planning to accept an invitation to meet publicly with citizens who are concerned about his stance on the regulation of toxic coal-ash. Citizen groups invited him to the meeting at noon tomorrow in Chester, W.Va.

Katie Martin, a spokeswoman for Rep. McKinley, told me earlier this week:

We will continue to meet with constituents across the 1st District like we have been doing since Rep. McKinley was elected into Congress. If this group or any group or individual would like to join Rep. McKinley at a town hall or forum he will host in the coming months, they are invited to do so.

But so far, she hasn’t responded to my question about whether Rep. McKinley will accept the citizens’ invitation to attend their meeting tomorrow. The citizens also proposed a number of other dates … so stay tuned.

This just in from the office of Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, acting as governor:

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced today that he appointed C.A. Phillips to the position of director of the Office of Miners Safety Health and Training.

“Because of his extensive experience with the mining industry and his dedication to the health and safety of West Virginia miners, I believe C.A. is the right man for the job,” said Gov. Tomblin. “C.A. is well versed in the needs and protection of miners and I am pleased that he has accepted the position permanently.”

Phillips, who has been serving as acting director since November 2010, is a McDowell County native who has worked in and around the mining industry since 1969. He was a miner and fireboss for the Olga Coal Company, and then went on to work as a Health and Safety Representative with the United Mine Workers of America. In 2001, he was appointed deputy director of the WVOMHST by former Gov. Bob Wise before later being appointed to the role of acting director in 2010 by Gov. Tomblin.

Mr. Phillips and his wife Tina reside in Summers, County.

Here’s the word today from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration:

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 375 citations and orders during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and five metal/nonmetal mines last month. The coal mines were issued 232 citations and 24 orders, while the metal/nonmetal operations were issued 108 citations and 11 orders.

Special impact inspections, which began in force in April 2010 following the explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine, involve mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to their poor compliance history or particular compliance concerns, including high numbers of violations or closure orders; indications of operator tactics, such as advance notification of inspections that prevent inspectors from observing violations; frequent hazard complaints or hotline calls; plan compliance issues; inadequate workplace examinations; a high number of accidents, injuries or illnesses; fatalities; and adverse conditions such as increased methane liberation, faulty roof conditions and inadequate ventilation.

As an example from last month’s impact inspections, on July 22, MSHA inspectors arrived during the second shift at Wilcoal Mining Inc.’s Tri-State One Mine located in Claiborne County, Tenn. The inspection party immediately seized and monitored communications at the mine to prevent advance notification. More than two-thirds of 32 citations and orders issued were designated as significant and substantial. The impact inspection was the sixth conducted at this mine.

MSHA issued eight unwarrantable failure closure orders for conditions that presented serious hazards in the event of a fire, explosion or other emergency that could prevent miners from safely exiting the mine. The operator was cited for failure to maintain a primary escapeway for safe travel due to the presence of lumber, other debris and water up to 10 inches in depth; inadequate pre-shift examinations; failure to conduct a proper electrical examination; use of a water pump without a fail-safe ground system in the primary escapeway; not providing the required number of self-contained self-rescuers at the section storage location as well as two-way communications for one of the mine’s refuge alternatives on the active section; and inadequate ventilation.

Twenty-four 104(a) citations were issued for hazardous conditions that, if left unchecked, could potentially cause or contribute to a roof fall, mine fire or explosion. These violations concerned a lack of emergency roof support supplies; improper roof bolt spacing; excessive coal accumulation; misaligned and unguarded conveyor belts, and a damaged conveyor belt roller; nonworking ventilation control doors; improperly maintained and nonpermissible electrical equipment; noncompliance with the approved emergency response plan; and nonfunctioning communication and tracking systems.

Tri-State One Mine was one of 13 operations to receive a letter from MSHA in November 2010 that placed it on notice of a potential pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards under Section 104(e) of the federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.

As a second example from last month, MSHA issued 13 citations and orders during an impact inspection conducted on July 1 at Inman Energy’s Randolph Mine, located in Boone County, W.Va. The inspection party arrived at 4 a.m. and captured the phones prior to proceeding. The impact inspection was the second conducted this year at the mine.

Six unwarrantable failure closure orders were issued for accumulations of combustible materials on the working section from the feeder to the face, overhanging rock brows on the working section that were not adequately supported or otherwise controlled, failure to follow the mine’s approved ventilation plan, miners not being made aware of the designated responsible person on duty, and failure to conduct and record adequate pre-shift and on-shift examinations. Inspectors also cited a number of violations involving other hazardous conditions, including permanent ventilation controls that were not properly constructed or otherwise maintained, accumulation of water in a return air course, an unguarded high-voltage cable, improper storage of compressed oxygen cylinders and inadequate support of a kettle bottom in the mine roof.

“The closure order is still one of the most effective tools inspectors have to bring about compliance, even during impact inspections,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. “We will not hesitate to use these and other enforcement tools to protect the nation’s miners.”

Since April 2010, MSHA has conducted 307 impact inspections, which have resulted in 5,526 citations, 518 orders and 19 safeguards.

MSHA has posted a summary of the inspection results here.

I’m just back from a status conference where U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver heard from citizen groups, state officials and the federal government regarding the status of West Virginia’s Special Reclamation Fund — the WVDEP program meant to clean up coal-mine sites abandoned since 1977.

Judge Copenhaver didn’t rule on any issues in either of the matters before him, but he did strongly suggest that the West Virginia Legislature needs to “beef up the DEP” so that the agency can move more quickly in cleaning up these abandoned mining operations. The judge said:

I’m fearful that we’ll find out that even this schedule won’t be met and even this will be delayed.

The judge was talking about the schedule included as part of a settlement between WVDEP and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, in which the state agrees to improve water pollution treatment at dozens of abandoned sites around the state.

Judge Copenhaver is considering whether to approve that settlement, and also is considering a separate legal effort by the Highlands Conservancy to force the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement to take over West Virginia’s special reclamation program.

We’ll have more on this in tomorrow’s Saturday Gazette-Mail.

Here’s something just in from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration:

A federal judge with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has issued a preliminary injunction ordering Darryl Koperna, doing business as S&M Coal Co., to stop mining at the Buck Mountain Slope Mine in Lykens, Pa., due to Koperna’s violation of a closure order previously issued by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration.

MSHA issued the closure order as a result of S&M’s continued failure to purchase and install a wireless tracking and communication system as required by its emergency response plan as well as the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006. A wireless tracking and communication system would provide a means to easily locate miners and enable them to communicate with rescuers and each other in an emergency situation.

“S&M’s refusal to comply with this order as well as the requirements of the MINER Act threaten the safety of workers at this mine, and must be halted immediately,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary for mine safety and health. “This preliminary injunction sends a very clear message: Mine operators who disregard the law will be held accountable.”

The preliminary injunction orders S&M to stop mining activities until it has complied with its emergency response plan and the MINER Act. Specifically, it prohibits S&M from permitting any person, except persons whose presence is necessary to install the wireless tracking and communication system, to enter any portion of the mine until the closure order has been terminated, modified or withdrawn; operating the mine until a complete inspection of the mine has been conducted, and any cited violations have been abated and terminated; and violating any closure order issued by MSHA in the future.

The judge also denied a cross-motion for preliminary injunction filed by S&M, which had requested that the closure order be vacated, among other relief.

Here’s another interesting tidbit from today’s MSHA briefing on the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster:

Top MSHA officials say that they understand that the U.S. Department of Justice is looking into allegations — raised in civil litigation against Massey and its board members — that the former Massey board of directors was aware of serious safety problems at Upper Big Branch, but did little or nothing to remedy those problems.

We’ve reported before on Coal Tattoo about court records that spell out a series of inactions by Massey’s board in the face of mounting safety troubles at UBB and other Massey operations, and about specific knowledge the Massey board was given about the lack of proper rock-dusting at Upper Big Branch.

During a press conference, I asked MSHA coal administrator Kevin Stricklin about these revelations, and if MSHA was including an examination of them in its UBB probe, and Kevin told the media:

That information is being looked at by the Department of Justice.

In an interview later, I asked MSHA chief  Joe Main if he was confident the Obama administration would seek criminal charges against any corporate officers found by investigators to have committed crimes that played a role in the mine disaster, and Joe told me:

I have every confidence that they [the DOJ] are carrying out a full and thorough investigation.

This just in via press release:

A broad coalition of community, environmental, historic preservation and labor history groups filed a petition today to protect the site of the largest civil uprising in America after the Civil War from surface coal mining. The petition was filed today by the Sierra Club, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Friends of Blair Mountain, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, the West Virginia Labor History Association, and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. It states that the Blair Mountain Battlefield should be deemed unsuitable for surface coal mining by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection due to its historical significance, natural beauty and the important archaeological sites located there.

Blair Mountain was the site of a historic clash between coal miners seeking to unionize and management and local law enforcement that put a violent end to their efforts. From August 25 to September 2, 1921, the two sides fought a series of violent battles. This significant event in the history of the U.S. labor movement was only brought to a close by the intervention of federal troops by Presidential order. Last year, Blair Mountain was removed from the National Register of Historic Places.

“Blair Mountain is a critical piece of West Virginia’s history,” said Bill Price, a local Sierra Club organizer. “It should stand as a historic reminder of the sacrifices that miners were forced to make to fuel America and should be protected from destructive, unsustainable and job killing mountain top removal mining.”

From June 6-11, activists from across the country will converge on Blair Mountain to re-enact the historic miners’ march to celebrate the 90th anniversary. The march will culminate in a rally to call for an end to mountaintop removal mining, support of labor rights, the preservation of Blair Mountain and sustainable job creation.

“This is more than a West Virginian crisis. This is an environmental crisis and a historical crisis,” said Barbara Rasmussen, president of Friends of Blair Mountain. “Every person in America who has a steady job, a decent wage, and health and retirement benefits owes his or her well being to the brave miners who stood to demand basic human dignity, human rights and safe working conditions in the coal mining industry. Sid Hatfield and the other men who died for workers’ rights in the coal fields and elsewhere deserve the respect that will come from commemorating this mountain as the profoundly historically significant place that it is. I believe it is a terrible act of social violence to tear down other people’s monuments, particularly when they can never be restored. Blair Mountain should be sacred to working people everywhere.”

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